
There’s a lot of debate in the dog training world about positive reinforcement vs. aversive training. Most of us have been around long enough to know that aversive training methods were among the most prevalent training methods used until recently. As with corporal punishment and other forms of ‘teaching’ we’ve overcome in the human world, it’s equally important to be constantly reassessing and questioning our methods as we move towards a better understanding of dogs and how they learn. Tons of new evidence shows that canines learn fast with positive reinforcement. They also develop less behavioral problems associated with fear and anxiety and form healthier relationships with their people with positive reinforcement training.
When talking about punishment, we are most often referring to positive punishment in which the positive implies that something is being administered (as opposed to taken away) and punishment means that the desired effect is to minimize the behavior in the future. Therefore, whatever is being administered is undesirable by the dog (i.e. a pop on the collar). It is true that these methods can be successful, but at what cost? With aversive training, we run the risk of inducing fear and anxiety rather than an understanding of what behaviors we are looking for. Even if the dog seems to understand and ceases to exhibit the behavior, what effect has our punishment had on the relationship? Better yet, in simply punishing dogs for a behavior we don’t want to see, we lack the ability to show them what we’d like to see instead. Punishment can be confusing for a dog. Sometimes, the reaction that a dog may receive for a poor behavior choice has the opposite effect of reinforcing the behavior. Consider the fact that with aversive training, dogs tend to get a lot less positive attention overall so they may be more desperate for any form of attention. Another great risk with aversion techniques is that your dog will make negative associations with the environment in which it is punished. Lets use the example of a choke collar. You may have bought the choke collar for your dog because on walks, she gets overly excited about seeing other dogs and pulls strongly towards them. You’re worried your dog might pull your arm off, so you get a choke collar. Consider now what happens when your dog sees another dog on a walk and pulls. Granted, your dog cannot pull as hard without hurting herself, but the choke collar will cause some discomfort with any pulling. Every time that your dog feels this discomfort, she will be excitedly pulling towards another dog. It’s quite likely that the dog will make an association between the discomfort on her neck and the other dogs that she is staring at when this occurs. Now imagine if a form of punishment occurs only when your dog is looking at you! How horrible would it be for your relationship with your dog to be associated with such negativity? Negative associations happen far too often in the world of aversion training.
If given a choice between reacting with punishment and being proactive with positive attention, positivity is the overall better choice. In using positive reinforcement, you are able to direct your dog’s behavior and show them what you are and aren’t looking for. Positive reinforcement occurs when your dog is given a reward (positive) that has the effect of causing the dog to exhibit the behavior more often (reinforcing). When we talk about rewards, this doesn’t mean treats all of the time. Attention, toys, food, walks, sniffs, pets and even a ‘good dog’ can go a long way. By using all things that your dog finds rewarding as a response for positive behaviors, you’ll increase the probability of seeing those behaviors again. Withholding attention and all other rewards for poor behavior teaches your dog that those actions are not rewarding and they will start to exhibit them less and less. Training with positive reinforcement is not only fun and creative, but you get to maintain a healthy relationship with your dog. Overall, it is a better method to avoid stress, fear and anxiety. There are other important factors to make sure you are setting your dog up for success, such as managing the environment (see another blog post about that) and avoiding situations in which your dog is not ready to exhibit good behavior. Wouldn’t you rather set your dog up for success and be able to celebrate their good behaviors than constantly correct them and causing confusion or negative feelings? I find it best to avoid the frustration and negativity aversive techniques cause for both you and your dog… Instead, enjoy training your dog and use training for mental stimulation, an energy outlet and relationship building.

At least 30% of dogs have a phobia of loud noises. This time of year is particularly hard for our furry friends, and making sure they are comfortable and safe can help us avoid intense anxiety in our dogs and destruction in our homes. The best training technique is to work on some noise desensitization far ahead of time. Buying soundtracks with noises and playing them very softly at first while giving your dog lots of treats and love. Slowly increase the volume and continue to do so, never getting loud enough that your dog starts to get anxious. Practicing with noises such as thunder and fireworks in this manner will help your dog learn that there is nothing to fear with these noises, but rather loud noises = treats and love! If you’re left with two little time to do such training (like most are at the moment), try managing the environment to set your dog up for success. Keep a close eye on them today! If you have to leave them anywhere, give them lots of positive things to do such as a treat dispenser, peanut butter filled kong, new toys or chews, etc. Turn on some loud music to drown out the sound of fireworks or thunder. If thunder is the main issue, keep an eye on the weather and try to be home when there are suspected thunderstorms or hire a pet sitter to come by. Remember that anxiety is serious and avoiding it is very important for your dogs health. Happy 4th of July to everyone and their dogs, may you all have a rewarding holiday!

One of the absolute best training tools is the ‘Look at That’ method (or LAT as it’s known in the world of dog trainers) and it has many implications. What better way to get your dog used to a calm reaction to a stimulus than to give them a reward as they calmly watch the stimulus go by? This technique is extremely helpful in reactive and fearful dogs. You can stage a training session with a friend if your dog is reactive to people, or another pet that is under a friend’s control if your dog is reactive towards other pets. You can even practice this with wildlife if you are able to stay outside the threshold and move away if the stimulus moves in your direction. If by yourself, a park is a good place to start, just choose where you post up wisely. For this example, I will explain for a dog that is reactive towards other dogs. To start, simply ask your dog to sit (or lay down, although not all dogs like to stay in a down position when there are things happening around them) in an area where there are no current distractions with high quality treats to reward them. Choose a spot that is far enough away from any stimulus that might elicit a response, a spot that it is just barely outside the threshold of your dog’s likeliness of reacting. Make sure this spot will remain just outside that threshold so for the duration of the training. If your dog reacts at any point, move farther away, you are too close! Once you have your dog in a sit or down, wait for any dog nearby that you are looking to practice with. As a dog approaches, have your body in between your dog and the dog nearby and slowly allow your dog to look at this other dog. As your dog sees the other dog, say ‘good’ and reward with a treat. The idea is that your dog won’t have time to react to this other dog and will instead focus on a yummy treat that it has been rewarded for not reacting and staying calm. If your dog seems to be too fixated and starts to elicit a reaction, move in front of his/her view and continue to talk calmly and reward as long as no reaction occurs. Once you are able to repeat this exercise for a few sessions with at least a handful of stimuli walking by each time, you can practice a little bit closer to the stimulus. Eventually, the threshold for your dog’s reactivity will be closer and closer until you can practice walking by other dogs (or people or wildlife). Such a simple yet effective technique!
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Tags: Arvada dog training,
counter conditioning,
Denver Dog Training,
desensitization,
Dog Training,
Good Dog,
happy dog,
LAT,
look at that training,
Positive Reinforcement,
treats treats treats

Wanting to teach your pup a new trick, but not sure how to get them there? Try breaking it down into small steps that your dog and you can be successful at! Start with the basics and make sure you dog understands a ‘touch’ command to get them excited about using a food lure. Teach ‘touch’ by putting a hand out (without a treat) and waiting for your dog to become curious enough to inspect. The second their nose touches, say ‘touch’ followed by a positive reward marker (click or ‘good’) and treat. Continue this until they are good at touching on command. Once they have this down, they will be more inclined to follow a food lure. Remember that you can be as creative as you’d like using the lure to get your pup into a ‘down’, ‘roll over’, jump through a hoop and much much more. Just make it easy at first and reward for small steps towards what you are looking for! For example; if you are trying to work on a ‘roll over’, start with a down and then drag your lure along their hip until they start to roll onto their back. Make sure to reward these steps at first and then slowly reward more and more turning until they have made it all the way over. The more creative you are, the more mentally stimulating it is for your pup and the more fun you can have!
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